London
8.1.13 tuesday
I have noticed in wordpress there are very few, if fact, no frugal men who are blogging about it. Those that blog are those who give advise about managing your money. Investing, spending on assets , etc. rather than just a daily talking of their frugal ways.
I seem to be the only one talking of it. and what is more, a gay male talking of being thrifty. it is not something u think of when u hear the word gay.
I think a lot of men, and women too don’t like to give the impression that , what to us would be just frugal or thrifty habits , they will think are cheapskates. It is a fact that if u talk too much about your frugal ways to friends they will think u are a cheapskate. Even the best of friends will think that of you.
And sometimes, it may be u too will think that of yourself.
Going dumpster diving, taking things people leave in the street, rummaging in rubbish black bags, haha. going to recycling bins and taking stuff that people have got rid off. And what is more, all these stuff are second hand stuff and have been used by others, whose sanitary habits you don’t know about and may be awful. If u put it like that it really is very offputting, doesn’t it?
So I guess we all put a limit to how far we will go in our frugal ways.
We try to whitewash that frugal ways by saying we are saving the planet, and we don’t like waste. Or even we are saving money because we are in debt and want to clear our debts.
What if I say I am not in debt, I can buy those things, but chose not to. Does it mean I am a cheapskate? Hmm, and what is wrong with that? Yet so many of us would be motified if someone were to call us that. I think the fear of being thought of as one stops many people from doing these things. Or not let others know they are doing it. It is something no one likes to boast about.
Though with so many blogs in wordpress talking of it, maybe people don’t mind talking about it in the anonymity of a blog. And it is mainly women.
Perhaps amongst men it is still taboo.
I don’t blame people for keeping quiet about their thrifty ways, or even their cheapskate ways. Haha.
Friends may pity you if ever they hear u say that u go to supermarket when they reduced the price at the end of the day . They must think poor you, to be reduced to such a way of life and counting the pennies. And I am sure many of us find that irritating, as nothing irks more than another taking a superior attitude. Unless, like me, you don’t care what others think. So it is not something people tell everyone, only to close friends who they know are as thrifty as themselves.
And we all know of friends whose thrifty ways even we balk at. Like my friend who wont flush his loo, as he wants to save water.
I would at least throw some water in from the tap but my friend wont even do that. Haha. I respect his wishes and so when I visit him I too take his cue. Even though I think it is going a bit too far. Actually, he lives in a cottage and he could have a water butt to collect rain water and use the rain water, but he does not do so.
I am sure my friends must think I am going too far by refusing to switch the heating on at all. I am warm enough as I live in a flat in London and somehow it is seldom very cold here. My indoor temp is 12C even at the coldest temp outside. So it is not as bad as it sounds. Heating contributes the biggest cost to the utilities bill so if u can do without it u are laughing.
To me it seems silly to heat up the whole flat just to keep warm, when wearing layers of fleece, eating hot foods or drink, can do the same thing.
I think it makes you more resistant to disease. I don’t have colds so much anymore since I stopped using the heaters. Perhaps it is a coincidence.
Also, I find I don’t have qualms about opening the windows , as I don’t have the heating on and so none of it goes out of the windows. I think if I heat my flat I would be very reluctant to open windows and let the expensive heating get lost. This way I keep my flat aired and ventilated and prevent build up of moisture from the condensation, which if u will notice is worse in a heated flat.
I think also I rid my flat of all the creepy crawlies that breed during the summer. They can all die in my cold flat during the winter. Haha. Or they can go next door. Haha.
All in all, there are lots of real good advantage not to have heating. But u cannot stop others from thinking u are a cheapskate so i guess u have to develop a thick skin and not care what they think.
just laugh at them, when they get into debt and worry about their money problems. haha.
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Tags: cheapskates, frugal, gay, heating, london, male, thrifty
alifesgayventure 
Ha! Both my wife and I are what I like to call frugalistas. We haven’t turned on the heater once this winter. We eat $1 frozen dinners and my pants have go many holes in them they are now considered mesh. It is standard, mostly, because neither of us have ever been rich or well off. But after a while, it becomes like a game. Sort of a hunt for treasure. I will guarantee you this, when I find something awesome at a thrift (charity) shop that I have been looking for, I have no problem pulling a Freddy Mercury type pose because I know, right now, there is some idiot downtown that just paid 25x what I just did. It makes you appreciate what you have because you worked for them.
its such a wonderful happy feeling isn’t it , when u find something u want either lying around free for the taking or in a charity shop at a fraction of its cost. maybe more people should take up this way of life instead of getting depressed and taking pills. i know i feel so happy everytime i look down at my feet and see those reebok shoes i found.
i have googled boise, idaho, and i think your keeping the heaters off will be quite a challenge. stick with it, it will make u very happy when spring comes round and u did not use the heaters all winter. i have gotten so used now to the temperature i dont notice the cold anymore.
i got a trackback/pingbacks. i wonder how you do pingbacks. maybe it is the term used when other websites refer to my blog whereas in wordpress it is called reblog.
but anyway it is great to have feedback from another guy who lives a frugal life and willing to talk of it. now, why doesn’t it surprise me to find out he is a chinese guy in singapore?haha.
even then, he runs a website that offers advise on finance and how to save. whereas i am not on a mission to give advise. haha. i tell how i do it, and if u find it makes sense, u can adapt it to your own. or u can ignore it. i dont mind.
but it confirms my view that men(or for that matter, women) dont live a frugal lifestyle for the fun of it. i think maybe i am the only one who does. haha. i am not using it to save money or get out of debt. i just like living frugally. i just like the joy of finding things that i need either for free or for a much reduced price.
and there is a special joy in not letting myself get into the clutches of those who constantly increase their prices. for eg, the gas and electricity providers who always announce a rate rise when winter arrives. for those who like to heat their flats in winter, that would strike fear in their hearts, but to me who dont switch on my heating and so do not use gas or electricity to heat up my flat, i could not care less. i use so little of it that in terms of the actual cost to me of electricity it is like £5 increase over 3months.
everyone i read about in blogs etc who write about it, live a frugal life because they are in debt or want to save for something, or to build up capital to invest. no one likes it for the fun of it.
Two comments: (1) I think regular exposure to the cold does make you more resistant to sickness. I base this on my experience as a teenage newspaper carrier, which required me to get up early each and every morning to deliver papers in all elements. I never got sick then.
(2) I’m a man who blogs regularly on my frugal ways at practicalfrugalliving.wordpress.com – enjoy!
glad to hear u too have the same experience.i think the crucial element is not to expose your body to sudden change in temperatures. like going from a hot house where u are used to wearing little, suddenly into the cold outside, or vice versa. i like reading your blog. practical is a relative term.i dont put on my heating. i think most would think that is not practical. but it works for me, so to me that is practical. perhaps one should consider extremes of practice, sometimes they can be very effective. i would not mind reading some rather extreme ideas . they can be useful and be adapted or modified.